The Hollow Crown brings together four filmed adaptations of
Shakespeare's History Plays - Richard II, Henry IV parts 1 and 2, and
Henry V. Starting in the year 1399, this continuous story of monarchy
follows events during sixteen years of dynastic and political power
play. Kings, with their families and followers, are threatened by
rebellion and conflict. The story takes us from the Royal Court at
Westminster to battlefields in England and France. These rich films are
woven with the finest of Shakespeare's poetry and are filmed in the
architecture and landscape of the period.

Matt Roush

Mark A. Perigard

This four-part adaptation of Shakespeare’s historical cycle (“Richard II, “Henry IV, Part 1,” “Henry IV, Part 2” and “Henry V”) spotlighting the battle to win and to hold the English crown is both brilliant and eminently accessible.

Tom Gliatto

Robert Lloyd

The performances are so wonderful it feels wrong to single any out. But Whishaw finds great power in stillness; Hiddleston fits himself admirably to his character's stages and turns of mind, resolving his coldness with his warmth, his cruelty with his generosity. And there is Beale's Falstaff--marvelously poignant, a scoundrel-hero, getting everything wrong. His sorrow at losing the transformed Hal is as tragic a moment as any here, his fall no less thunderous than Richard's.

David Hinckley

The trump card of Hollow Crown, of course, is that it was written by Shakespeare--and if the language sounds stilted to modern ears, anyone who listens for more than a few minutes will be properly seduced.

Neil Genzlinger

For the most part, the flexibility that television provides is used to good advantage in The Hollow Crown to clarify the action and enhance the dynamics. Only occasionally does it feel misplaced, as in “Richard II,” when [director Rupert] Goold goes all in with Jesus imagery.